Eric and Lisa
Blog
Book Report - In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
from Lisa
My friend Andrea was reading this book, and after hearing a brief synopsis from her, I was intrigued. Not the "I-have-to-read-that-now!" kind of intrigued, but the sort of curiosity about something that you know will shake up your life a little bit, even if you don't really feel like shaking things up. Deep down, I really like complacency. It's comfortable. It feels better to be a little ignorant and keep living life the way you always have than to stumble across new information that shocks you a little bit into making some changes.
Which, of course, is what this book by Michael Pollan did, to some extent. Now, our household has been on an on-going quest for a healthy lifestyle ever since Eric and I got married. Little by little, we've been educating ourselves on finding the right balance of nutrition and exercise to keep our bodies and minds working as well as possible. So it's not like I've never thought about the things In Defense of Food pontificates on. Pollan just gave me a little more information...."food for thought," if you will.
The premise behind In Defense of Food is that we Americans don't eat like we were intended to eat as human beings, and we need to get back to the basics. Pollan suggests a mindset that is driven by reminding oneself to: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." In other words, eat mostly real, whole food, not "food products" created by science. Don't stuff yourself; it's just not healthy. And while there are some definite health benefits to eating meat, dairy, and grains, try to focus more on eating plants instead. For more information, read the book.
While Pollan didn't convince me that all "food products" are evil, he did convince me to at least think more carefully about the food I purchase and consume and its affect on both my body and the environment. For instance, I'm trying to frequent our local farmer's market more often for my produce than my local mega-mart. The food I can find there comes straight from the earth and has mostly been raised without pesticides and fertilizers...and is a heckuva lot cheaper than visiting the organic section of the regular grocery store. Thankfully, South Bend has an indoor farmer's market that is open three days a week, so I can actually fit this into my lifestyle in a more convenient fashion. Also, instead of going straight for the nutrition facts on food labels, I'm trying to worry less about the fat/protein/carb/calorie content (although those things should still be considered in a balanced diet) and concentrate more on exactly what is in the food I'm buying. Ideally, an ingredient list should consist of mostly food. I know, I know, that sounds crazy! But all those food derivatives (high fructose corn syrup, sodium bicarbonate, maltodextrin, monosodium glutamate, to name a few) are simply not food.
So anyway, I came away from the book having learned some things, as well as having more questions pop up in my mind to be considered in later research. But for now, I'm taking to heart his admonition to eat food, not too much, and mostly plants. What do I have to lose?
My friend Andrea was reading this book, and after hearing a brief synopsis from her, I was intrigued. Not the "I-have-to-read-that-now!" kind of intrigued, but the sort of curiosity about something that you know will shake up your life a little bit, even if you don't really feel like shaking things up. Deep down, I really like complacency. It's comfortable. It feels better to be a little ignorant and keep living life the way you always have than to stumble across new information that shocks you a little bit into making some changes.
Which, of course, is what this book by Michael Pollan did, to some extent. Now, our household has been on an on-going quest for a healthy lifestyle ever since Eric and I got married. Little by little, we've been educating ourselves on finding the right balance of nutrition and exercise to keep our bodies and minds working as well as possible. So it's not like I've never thought about the things In Defense of Food pontificates on. Pollan just gave me a little more information...."food for thought," if you will.
The premise behind In Defense of Food is that we Americans don't eat like we were intended to eat as human beings, and we need to get back to the basics. Pollan suggests a mindset that is driven by reminding oneself to: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." In other words, eat mostly real, whole food, not "food products" created by science. Don't stuff yourself; it's just not healthy. And while there are some definite health benefits to eating meat, dairy, and grains, try to focus more on eating plants instead. For more information, read the book.
While Pollan didn't convince me that all "food products" are evil, he did convince me to at least think more carefully about the food I purchase and consume and its affect on both my body and the environment. For instance, I'm trying to frequent our local farmer's market more often for my produce than my local mega-mart. The food I can find there comes straight from the earth and has mostly been raised without pesticides and fertilizers...and is a heckuva lot cheaper than visiting the organic section of the regular grocery store. Thankfully, South Bend has an indoor farmer's market that is open three days a week, so I can actually fit this into my lifestyle in a more convenient fashion. Also, instead of going straight for the nutrition facts on food labels, I'm trying to worry less about the fat/protein/carb/calorie content (although those things should still be considered in a balanced diet) and concentrate more on exactly what is in the food I'm buying. Ideally, an ingredient list should consist of mostly food. I know, I know, that sounds crazy! But all those food derivatives (high fructose corn syrup, sodium bicarbonate, maltodextrin, monosodium glutamate, to name a few) are simply not food.
So anyway, I came away from the book having learned some things, as well as having more questions pop up in my mind to be considered in later research. But for now, I'm taking to heart his admonition to eat food, not too much, and mostly plants. What do I have to lose?
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Cousins
from Lisa
Ian's been meeting a lot of cousins lately!
Last week, we went to Plymouth to get together with Eric's cousin Beth, who was visiting her parents for a few days from southern Indiana. We hadn't met her youngest son Jay yet and wanted the little kids to all have a chance to play together. We went to a nearby park, then had a delicious lunch prepared by Aunt Rachael (Eric's aunt, who is also a good old family friend of my family from way back when!). We were able to get the kids to sit still long enough to get this shot of Ian, Jay, Annabelle, and Joey:
Ian's been meeting a lot of cousins lately!
Last week, we went to Plymouth to get together with Eric's cousin Beth, who was visiting her parents for a few days from southern Indiana. We hadn't met her youngest son Jay yet and wanted the little kids to all have a chance to play together. We went to a nearby park, then had a delicious lunch prepared by Aunt Rachael (Eric's aunt, who is also a good old family friend of my family from way back when!). We were able to get the kids to sit still long enough to get this shot of Ian, Jay, Annabelle, and Joey:
Then yesterday, Ian
and I drove to Fort Wayne to meet my brother's
daughter, Kennice. She's such a cutie pie! For the few
hours I was around her, she seemed quite content and
happy. After Ian ate Mom's delicious dinner of
meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade
applesauce (before which he was Mister Grumpus), he
enjoyed playing a little bit with his baby cousin. It
was a fun evening! So here are some pictures of Kennice
and Ian:
My mom and dad with their
two grandchildren:
Fun times, all around!
A new life for Ian
from Lisa
You may notice that the last two posts, as well as this one, are all talking about "new" things. It's been two months since we came to South Bend, and we're still in that transition period. Some days, we really miss Bloomington and our friends there, but most of the time, we're completely stoked to be where we are and to be headed in the direction we seem to be going with our lives. Even still, some adjustment is required. Even little Ian is processing things in his own way, as evidenced by this conversation we had in the Jeep on Monday morning on our way to Meijer for this week's groceries:
Ian: "New church, Mommy?"
Me: "No, Ian, we're not going to the new church today. We're going to Meijer!"
(thoughtful silence on Ian's part)
Ian: "No old church....new church. No Marsh....Meijer."
Me: "That's right, Ian!"
(more thoughtful silence)
Ian: "No old house....new house. No IU....Bethel."
The little guy is obviously starting to realize that we have a different life than we used to. Thankfully, this fact doesn't seem to bother him much, but it's pretty interesting to hear him process the differences out loud. I'm sure there are things he misses about those "old" things, but at least he seems to be on board with embracing the "new" things. I'm so thankful!
You may notice that the last two posts, as well as this one, are all talking about "new" things. It's been two months since we came to South Bend, and we're still in that transition period. Some days, we really miss Bloomington and our friends there, but most of the time, we're completely stoked to be where we are and to be headed in the direction we seem to be going with our lives. Even still, some adjustment is required. Even little Ian is processing things in his own way, as evidenced by this conversation we had in the Jeep on Monday morning on our way to Meijer for this week's groceries:
Ian: "New church, Mommy?"
Me: "No, Ian, we're not going to the new church today. We're going to Meijer!"
(thoughtful silence on Ian's part)
Ian: "No old church....new church. No Marsh....Meijer."
Me: "That's right, Ian!"
(more thoughtful silence)
Ian: "No old house....new house. No IU....Bethel."
The little guy is obviously starting to realize that we have a different life than we used to. Thankfully, this fact doesn't seem to bother him much, but it's pretty interesting to hear him process the differences out loud. I'm sure there are things he misses about those "old" things, but at least he seems to be on board with embracing the "new" things. I'm so thankful!
New House!
from
Lisa
Yep, we're buying a house. A few years ago, when the far-off idea of coming back to Bethel was just being tossed around in various people's heads, Eric and I began dreaming what that might entail.
"We could be professors at Bethel, starting a new program to help the school fulfill its mission. We could be involved in students' lives the way some key people were involved in our lives when we were students. And maybe, just maybe, we could buy a house in Bercliff Estates and live only blocks away from campus so we could walk to work every day and be accessible to the students we're mentoring."
At the time, it was all just pie-in-the-sky style dreaming. But now, we're actually living it. And quite often, we look at each other and say incredulously, "Can you believe this is actually happening?"
But it is. Even down to the part about living in the neighborhood we had hoped to someday live in.
The funny thing is, we looked at this house during our house-hunting marathon last spring, and ruled it out due to price and amount of work that needed to be done on it. However, since then, the house has become empty, the hardwood floors have all been refinished, and the price dropped within a reasonable distance of our price cap. So we thought, "Why not look at it again?" After doing so, we put an embarrassingly low offer on the house (which was the best we could do), and with some negotiation over a couple of weeks, it was accepted. Then came the round of inspections to deal with, where more negotiating took place. In the end, the sellers graciously conceded to let us have the house at a price we can easily afford and with a doable amount of work left to be done. Praise God!
So this will be our new home in another month or two:
We are so thankful to God that all of this is taking place! We just sit in incredulity at how He orchestrates things in ways we never would have imagined! Sometimes He gives us exactly what we want, and sometimes He gives us exactly what we need...which we then later realize was best all along. This situation happens to fit in both categories.
PS: For those of you who are Facebook users, I've posted more pictures of the inside of the house on my profile.
Yep, we're buying a house. A few years ago, when the far-off idea of coming back to Bethel was just being tossed around in various people's heads, Eric and I began dreaming what that might entail.
"We could be professors at Bethel, starting a new program to help the school fulfill its mission. We could be involved in students' lives the way some key people were involved in our lives when we were students. And maybe, just maybe, we could buy a house in Bercliff Estates and live only blocks away from campus so we could walk to work every day and be accessible to the students we're mentoring."
At the time, it was all just pie-in-the-sky style dreaming. But now, we're actually living it. And quite often, we look at each other and say incredulously, "Can you believe this is actually happening?"
But it is. Even down to the part about living in the neighborhood we had hoped to someday live in.
The funny thing is, we looked at this house during our house-hunting marathon last spring, and ruled it out due to price and amount of work that needed to be done on it. However, since then, the house has become empty, the hardwood floors have all been refinished, and the price dropped within a reasonable distance of our price cap. So we thought, "Why not look at it again?" After doing so, we put an embarrassingly low offer on the house (which was the best we could do), and with some negotiation over a couple of weeks, it was accepted. Then came the round of inspections to deal with, where more negotiating took place. In the end, the sellers graciously conceded to let us have the house at a price we can easily afford and with a doable amount of work left to be done. Praise God!
So this will be our new home in another month or two:
We are so thankful to God that all of this is taking place! We just sit in incredulity at how He orchestrates things in ways we never would have imagined! Sometimes He gives us exactly what we want, and sometimes He gives us exactly what we need...which we then later realize was best all along. This situation happens to fit in both categories.
PS: For those of you who are Facebook users, I've posted more pictures of the inside of the house on my profile.
New animal friends
from Lisa
This week we've tried to get out and enjoy South Bend a little bit before we dive into the school year, so on Wednesday morning, we went to the nearby Potawatomi Zoo as a family. I had never been to that particular zoo (to my recollection...maybe I went there as a baby/toddler when my family lived in the area), and it was a nice, little zoo with a heavy emphasis on protecting and increasing endangered species. We saw all sorts of exotic animals like red pandas, bison, snow leopards, white-naped cranes, and chinese alligators. While the morning started out cool, by the time lunch time rolled around, it was hot and we were all ready to get home for Ian's nap, but not before finishing the day with a ride on the "choo-choo," the highlight of the day for Ian.
This week we've tried to get out and enjoy South Bend a little bit before we dive into the school year, so on Wednesday morning, we went to the nearby Potawatomi Zoo as a family. I had never been to that particular zoo (to my recollection...maybe I went there as a baby/toddler when my family lived in the area), and it was a nice, little zoo with a heavy emphasis on protecting and increasing endangered species. We saw all sorts of exotic animals like red pandas, bison, snow leopards, white-naped cranes, and chinese alligators. While the morning started out cool, by the time lunch time rolled around, it was hot and we were all ready to get home for Ian's nap, but not before finishing the day with a ride on the "choo-choo," the highlight of the day for Ian.
Ian watching the
Tiger
Ian was afraid of the
goats!
Eric and Ian on the train
Yesterday, we also
made a new friend who came right to our patio door and
asked for food: a little kitty! She was so hungry and
so sweet, and she let Ian do almost anything to her.
She just kept cuddling right up next to him. They ate
their afternoon snacks together, and she spent the
entire rest of the evening dozing on and under our
patio furniture. By this morning, she was gone, and we
haven't seen her at all today. Here are some pictures
of our new friend, though:
